Over 100 jobs lost as lenders call in administrators

Over 101 staff at stricken doorstep lender Morses Club and sister company Shelby Finance have been made redundant after the firm collapsed into administration.

As we exclusively revealed yesterday, Nottingham-based Morses Club which also has operations in West Yorkshire posted a notice of intention to appoint administrators following a fraught 18 months trying to stave off insolvency.

On Friday morning, Ed Boyle and Rob Spence from Interpath Advisory were appointed joint administrators to Morses Club and sister company Shelby Finance.

The administrators have retained 272 staff across the two businesses while they assess options for it – but 101 people have been laid off today.

The two companies provide short-term consumer loans, with Morses Club providing home collect credit and Shelby Finance providing loans online under the Dot Dot Loans brand.

The companies have been under sustained financial pressure for some time, a situation which was exacerbated in recent years by Morses Club facing a significant number of customer redress claims for unaffordable lending.

In order to address these issues, the management team has been seeking to restructure the businesses. As part of this restructuring, in May, Morses Club entered into a Scheme of Arrangement to provide a mechanism to maximise redress payments to customers and to also allow the businesses to continue to operate. However, the firm has been unable to complete the refinancing of its existing debt facilities.

As a result of the insolvency of Morses Club, the Scheme automatically terminates early.

Shortly prior to the appointment of the joint administrators, all new lending ceased, but the companies continue to collect outstanding loans from customers.

A statement from the administrators said: “Customers should continue to make repayments of outstanding loans in the usual way. It is important that customers continue to make payments on outstanding loans as they fall due, as not doing so is likely to impact their credit rating/profile and their ability to borrow.

“Current and former customers are encouraged to view the Frequently Asked Questions at the relevant website i) Morses Club – www.morsesclub.com or ii) Dot Dot Loans – www.dotdotloans.co.uk which provide further information. Customers can also get in touch with any queries, including if they are experiencing financial difficulties, to the relevant customer service team which both continue to operate as normal.”